When it came to developing another worthy villain who could make Dom (Vin Diesel) betray his team, the filmmakers had an ace up their sleeves. Namely, the globally popular actress Charlize Theron, whose on screen cred alone would bring a new pedigreed threat to the team, while interweaving more of the “holy #%$@” plot twists that smack of the Fast franchise reveals.

“We’ve always had this idea that we wanted one of our villains to be this amazing woman, and honestly we had our eye on Charlize Theron,” confesses producer Neal Moritz. “We’ve been talking with her for a number of years about becoming part of the franchise, and when we came up with this idea for what her character could be, we went to her.”

For Theron, being courted to join one the world’s most beloved series was an exciting prospect. Add to that, she knew the role, the series’ first female villain—and perhaps its most lethal—would kick start a cataclysmic shift to the very core of the world the Fast & Furious cast and crew had created.

“What a great place to find yourself in, to not only be offered a great role in one of the greatest franchises ever, but to be the first female villain…that’s a real honor,” shares Theron. “Cipher is the real deal, too. At her core she is completely this rapacious, and that says a lot about a character. As an actor, there is something great about witnessing a character just coming in and taking what she wants…and doing it in a way that’s unexpected.”

Cipher is the ultimate puppet master, a legendary hacker known only by her exploits; it is her keystrokes and binary combinations that have long played an insidious role across the world stage. Her tactics and strategy are explosive and will leaves audiences guessing as they witness her cold and calculated machinations.

“A director wants someone who can not only look at the words on the page, but breathe life into a character, and brings things to it that you’ve never considered,” reflects director F. Gary Gray of one of the series’ newest cast members. “Charlize is amazing; there’s a gravitas and richness to her performance that’s never been seen before in a Fast villain. She’s an Oscar® winner for a reason.”

One of the more unexpected aspects of Fast & Furious 8 is the thriller elements that are woven throughout material, which will keep audiences guessing. Placing two alphas like Cipher and Dom in one room will always yield crackling energy, but more so when the chemistry of the actors inhabiting them is just as palpable.

Says Gray of the pairing of Diesel and Theron: “When Cipher teams up with Dom, the chemistry between Vin and Charlize is absolutely electrifying. It was evident from their first scene together and continues to grow throughout this story. It’s definitely something you’d never seen before in this franchise, and I’m proud of that; audiences are going to get everything they want from Fast & Furious 8…and then some.”

Even Diesel, who has inhabited the role of Dom Toretto for almost two decades, was a little giddy to see a new dimension to his alter ego. He admits that he upped his game as an actor by going up against a talent actress who was a kindred spirit; they share an approach to character development.

“When Charlize and I first started working together, she commented on how well I must know Dom. I remember saying ‘I may know Dom but that is before Cipher, before she affects him. I don’t know the Dom that’s coming now,” he adds with a wry laugh, “that was the beginning of what we were about to create. I am so proud of this union. I’ve got to admit, when I watch Charlize and me on screen together, it is so powerful. I’m very proud of our work.”

About Fast & Furious 8

On the heels of 2015’s Fast & Furious 7, one of the fastest movies to reach $1 billion worldwide and the sixth-biggest global title in box-office history, comes the newest chapter in one of the most popular and enduring motion-picture serials of all time: Fast & Furious 8.

Now that Dom and Letty are married and Brian and Mia have retired from the game—and the rest of the crew has been exonerated—the globetrotting team has found a semblance of a normal life. But when a mysterious woman seduces Dom into the world of crime he can’t seem to escape and a betrayal of those closest to him, they will face trials that will test them as never before.

From the shores of Cuba and the streets of New York City to the icy plains off the arctic Barents Sea, our elite force will crisscross the globe to stop an anarchist from unleashing chaos on the world’s stage…and to bring home the man who made them a family.